


In Between

by bmot



Series: Dragon Age AU [2]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragon Age Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:06:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmot/pseuds/bmot
Summary: A few dragon age au drabbles about the development of Jonghyun and Jinki's relationship. These take place between As the Sapling Bends and The Smallest of Deeds.





	1. Chapter 1

The cabin is dark, illuminated only by the meager moonlight that sometimes sneaks through the clouds and the kitchen window.

“Jonghyun.”

A murmur of his name, and he turns over to face Jinki as if pulled by a string. He can see nothing but Jinki’s silhouette, and movement that he can’t tell the direction of until he feels soft lips press against his own.

He gasps before he can stop himself, eyes going wide. They’ve never kissed in bed before – rarely even shared the same bed.

On Jinki’s past visits, he had alternated between sleeping in a cot at the other end of the cabin and Jonghyun’s bed – and he usually chose the cot. Tonight, when Jonghyun had heard the pad of Jinki’s feet against the wood floor and felt the covers shift around him as he slipped inside to join him, he’d had to force himself to hide his eagerness.

It’s even harder to hide it now.

Jinki’s hands find his, and the last of Jonghyun’s thoughts leave him when he feels a tongue tease over his bottom lip. He’s afraid that making a sound will ruin this, scare Jinki off, but he can’t help the moan that slips out when the kiss finally deepens.

Jinki shivers, a deep noise rumbling in his throat, and then Jonghyun is gasping a second time as he’s pushed onto his back with Jinki over him. When Jonghyun arches up, fitting his thighs around Jinki’s hips, it feels too right to question.

Jinki’s hands move fast, on instinct, seeking skin. The pads of his fingers are calloused, but the touch is gentle. Warm hands push up the hem of his nightshirt, and the stray fingers that slip over his sides and chest send blood rushing to his cheeks and between his legs.

His breath catches when Jinki pulls back.

Jinki’s eyes shine back at him, reflecting the light, and Jonghyun flushes deeper. Till now, he’d forgotten that elf eyes allow them to see easily in the dark.

Jinki could probably see everything.

The thought is as thrilling as it is nerve-wracking. Jonghyun’s pulse speeds to a loud and heavy thrum. He’s certain Jinki can hear it when their lips meet again, because he brings a finger to his jaw and shifts gently against the large vein of his neck, as if to confirm the sound.

His mouth follows it, and Jonghyun grabs at the bed, when he feels a press of lips followed by tongue. Jinki’s holding him now, hands heavy on his shoulders, and his hips are moving in subtle little jerks that make Jonghyun shake. He’s not sure if Jinki realizes he’s doing it, until the pressure is suddenly more and Jinki is breathing a quiet swears against his neck, nails digging blunt and harsh into his skin.

Jonghyun moans, unable to help the noise now that he’s certain Jinki means to press against him.

Jinki stops then, and Jonghyun almost finds his own string of curses. He should have known better than to make a noise.

“You’re alright with this?” Jinki asks, breath heavy.

“Yes,” Jonghyun says, barely able to leash the eagerness in his voice. He’d beg for it, if he wasn’t so sure that would scare Jinki off.

Bangs brush against his ear as Jinki tucks his chin back against his neck, and – thank the Maker – his hips are moving again. Jonghyun bites his lip to suppress a hiss. He muffles the noise in Jinki’s hair, and Jinki reacts to it like it’s an encouragement, thrusts turning into long rolls of his hips that make Jonghyun shake from the friction.

A hot and sharp pant of air hits his earlobe, and then Jinki whimpers, making the heat in Jonghyun’s stomach curl in pleasant knots. The fingers on him tighten, there’s a gasp, and Jonghyun feels a fast series of throbs against him as Jinki stiffens, a surprised keen stilling in his throat.

His hold on Jinki’s shoulder loosens, shock overriding every bodily instinct that tells him to pull him closer. He knows what he felt. Jinki must’ve–

After a few long breaths, Jinki pulls back, but doesn’t move off of him. Even in the dark, Jonghyun can see his eyes are wide and nervous, either on the edge of an apology or a fear of what might come next.

Jonghyun isn’t sure what to do, but his good sense is already gone, and the first thing he thinks of is to make sure Jinki knows he liked feeling him come. He licks his lips, a touch shameless, and murmurs. “I liked that.” His legs are still open, and he slips his own hand between them, eyes fluttering shut.  “Jinki, can I…?”

Jinki stares at him, lips parted around words he can’t find. For a long moment, Jonghyun thinks he messed up.

Jinki’s gaze flicks down to Jonghyun’s hand before snapping back up, and he gives a tight nod to avoid words.

With a soft sigh of relief, Jonghyun squeezes himself through his robes, then pulls them up until he can touch himself fully. His hand isn’t the same as the pressure of Jinki’s hips, but it’s something, and when Jinki kisses him lightly, he arches into it, it’s more than enough to make his body flush with pleasure.

He’s not going to last long.

After a quick slip of tongue, Jinki’s mouth leaves his to follow his neck, and that’s all it takes – a nip and a soft suck along his jugular, and he’s coming into his hand, thighs quivering against Jinki’s as his toes curl in the sheets.

He barely has time to regain his senses before Jinki is rolling off of him. His heart stings suddenly at the thought of Jinki leaving – either for the spare cot, or worse, for the clan – but he watches from where he lay, not wanting to push when Jinki quietly cleans himself up.

This is more than they’ve ever done, and he has a feeling it’s a fragile thing.

With as little movement as he can manage, he pulls off his robe and wipes himself down, then tosses it aside to an empty corner of the room. Jinki’s ears twitch in the dark at the noise, and he jumps, startled out of his thoughts.

Jonghyun cringes at his own thoughtlessness. “Sorry. That was just my robe.”

“Mm.” Jinki walks over to where Jonghyun knows he’d left his pack of things, and his heart clenches–

_He’s leaving. He’s leaving._

– Only to unclench when Jinki opens it and pulls out a new nightshirt and pants in hand before returning to the bed. Out of habit, Jonghyun closes his eyes when Jinki changes, and he hears his own pulse slow as it sinks in that Jinki is staying.

A smile blooms on his lips, and Jinki looks at him oddly before returning it and lifting the covers to join him. There’s a touch of hesitance to his movements, but when Jinki settles closer to him, Jonghyun sees no sign of the fear that had been in his eyes earlier.

He’s half asleep when he feels a brush of lips against his shoulder, and before he can react, Jinki turns his back to him, letting out what Jonghyun could only call a content sigh before covering his head fully with the blankets.

The sound eases the last of his worries. He falls fully into his dreams a moment later, even as his skin hums with the last echoes of Jinki’s touch.


	2. Chapter 2

The ceiling is still spinning. Jonghyun’s chest is sweat-damp as he rests on his back in hope of a cooling breeze, and Jinki’s is too. The summer air had stuck between their skin earlier, as Jinki rutted against him and Jonghyun held on so tight he could hardly breathe.

He smiles at the memory of it though it was only minutes ago, hand seeking out Jinki’s slowly on the mattress to avoid startling him. Jinki had been as quiet as ever, only a few murmured Tevene and Elven swears escaping his lips that Jonghyun had already catalogued and learned to treasure the sound of.

Tonight, there had a been a new phrase. His mind didn’t catch onto it at first – he was too busy drinking in the verbal slip of Jinki’s control, and enjoying the pressure between his legs – but now he turns it over.

Fingers still laced together, he turns onto his side to look at Jinki. “What does that elvish thing you said mean? Is it another curse word?”

Jinki stiffens. “What?”

Jonghyun tries to sound out the words. “ _Ma_ …something? _Vhe-nen_?”

His attempt at Elven earns him an amused snort, but he hesitates before mumbling his correction. “… _Ma vhenan_?”

“Yes, that.”

“It’s a nickname,” Jinki says, too quickly. Jonghyun purses his lips, suspicious, but waits for Jinki to continue. He only shrugs.

“Will you tell me what it means?”

Jinki turns to grin at him, and even in the dark, Jonghyun can see that it’s tilted to the wrong side. “You won’t like it.”

Jonghyun narrows his eyes. “Now you have to tell me.”

“It means ‘short.’ I call you that in my head, sometimes, but I guess it hasn’t slipped out till now.”

Jonghyun huffs, indignant. He knows Jinki is lying, but he knows better than to push. Waiting had worked out well for him so far.


	3. Chapter 3

The water had taken to the fall’s cold faster than the air. Jonghyun curses and shivers, submerging himself completely as fast he can so he can adjust to the freezing stream. He should have warmed a bath, but that would mean creating ice, then melting it with a fire spell, or worse, lugging some back from the stream all the way to the cabin – all of which he didn’t have the strength for, after two long days of hunting and foraging for herbs.

At least this year, he had Jinki’s help with the preparations for winter. It meant he had more venison salted and frozen, and company for the chores. Dressing and storing the kills of their last hunt had left Jinki covered in blood up to his elbows, and Jonghyun had taken a fall on the way back that had coated his entire front in mud.

The sound of Jinki’s light leathers hitting the ground draws his attention to the bank behind him, but he resists the urge to turn. He had learned by now that Jinki would only undress in the dark, and he’d assumed – rightly, it seems – that the only way Jinki would feel comfortable cleaning off is if he pretended not to be there at all.

Of course, that didn’t stop his imagination. His cheeks turn pink when he hears the soft ripple of water parting for Jinki – Jinki, entirely bare  – enters the stream. His cheeks redden, and he hurries his scrubbing, wanting to be out of the water quickly. The sound of Jinki pouring water over himself was already putting a vivid image to the broad muscles of Jinki’s back that he’d only ever gotten to touch.

Before that thought can tempt him, he swallows a lungful of air and dunks his head under the water. The cold erases the thought from his mind, and he comes up with gritted teeth and repeats the motion until he’s managed to wash away the last of the soap from his hair and face.

Jonghyun can feel eyes on him when he surfaces and wades into the shallower part of the stream. He dares a glance over his shoulder, and sure enough, Jinki’s gaze meets his.

He snaps his head back, red-faced. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to look.”

His apology is met with silence, and he can’t see Jinki’s face to assure that he hasn’t crossed a line. He waits, but no answer comes. Jinki’s eyes are still on him – he can tell, from the lack of movement in the water and the self-conscious heat on the back of his neck – and they make him too nervous to keep his mouth shut.

“I really wasn’t trying to peek – I just thought I felt you looking. I won’t look at you, unless you say it’s alright, but I’m okay with you looking at me – not that you should, or that you have to, but if you want to, that’s alright – it doesn’t bother me.”

“You’re babbling.” Jinki’s smile is in his voice, and Jonghyun doesn’t need to look back to see it.

“I tend to do that, when I’m nervous…” Jonghyun admits. The water is only up to his waist now, and the shore a few steps away, but he isn’t sure he wants to leave and dress just yet.

The thought that Jinki’s eyes might still be on him – that the look in them might be dark and heated, as Jonghyun caught them looking sometimes when Jinki thought he wasn’t looking – keeps him in the water.  

He swallows. “Are you still looking at me?”

“Well…” He hears the drip of water as Jinki squeezes out his hair after trailing off. “It is a bit hard to turn away, now that you’ve given me permission to.”

Jonghyun’s body grows warm, cold water forgotten all at once. Jinki had said it like a joke, but it holds none of the lightness he’s accustomed to with his thinly-veiled compliments.

He doesn’t hold a hope that this will lead to something. He knows that is reserved for the night, when the candles are out and only Jinki with his elven eyes can see something more than shadows in the dark. But his body still thrums with the thrill of being watched, and he treads back to the bank slowly, wondering if Jinki’s gaze is following the same lines as the water dripping down his neck and shoulder blades.

The warmth of the sun that helps abate the chill left in his bones from the water, and he moves the blanket he’d brought into the brightest patch of sunlight he can find to dry off. Keeping his back to Jinki, he lays across it on his side and bites his lip, embarrassed at himself when he realizes he probably looks like he’s trying to be seductive.

He rolls onto his stomach, only realizing then that he’d gotten half-hard just from being watched. That was embarrassing. He hoped Jinki hadn’t noticed.

The splashing of water cuts off that thought, and he furrows his brows, trying not to listen too intently as Jinki washes himself. It takes longer than he’d imagined. By the time Jinki stops, Jonghyun is nearly dry from the sun, and he has to wonder if Jinki had even started cleaning himself before he left the stream.

That realization has him hurrying for his clothes, because as much as he likes the thought of Jinki getting distracted watching, he isn’t sure how long he can handle it without wanting to kiss him. And that couldn’t happen while he was undressed, not when the day was still so bright. Jonghyun pulls his shirt over his head and tugs up his breeches, grimacing at the tight fit of them – his blood is still in all the wrong places.

Once he’s dressed, he finally hears Jinki wade up to the shallow water near the bank. Jinki seems to have no qualms about putting his clothes back on while still damp, and Jonghyun hears him clear his throat in a wordless assent for Jonghyun to turn around.

“We should head back,” he says casually, the only indication they had just bathed in the same stream a high pink that rests against the topmost carve of his markings. “Sunset’s only an hour or so away.”

“Right.” Jonghyun swallows, trying not to stare as he pulls on his boots. He’d seen Jinki with wet hair before, from the rains that fell in the summer, but this felt different. When Jinki offers a hand to help him stand he takes it, lips pulling up to return the familiar and playful grin on Jinki’s face.

“Don’t want you to fall in the mud again, _ma vhenan_.”


End file.
